Furie
by Riverhaze
Summary: She is an agent for the Brotherhood, embarking on dangerous solo missions from infiltration to assassination as needed for the Brotherhood of Steel. Assigned to track down the Railroad HQ and their members is another routine job until she wakes up in the Institute, not quite human but not quite Synth, completely new.
1. 1

_The earth began to shake and tremble as the hills all around rolled like water. The blasted field cindered and black was littered with bodies torn to pieces._

 _The knight removed their helmet and it fell to the ground._

 _I let out a scream._

I thought I had died at first when I opened my eyes and all I saw was a patch of pure white. But my vision adjusted quickly to the small hospital room that was too clean to be real. Something told me that everything should normally be covered in a thin layer of dirt and dust. But just what, I couldn't quite put my finger on or even remember.

That's when I realized there was something wrong with me.

Effortlessly I ripped my hands and legs free from the metal straps that should have kept me pinned down. I stood up in one fluid motion as my vision began to whirl through spectrum's of light.

Blocks of red and green to ghostly blue and even a strange, pixelated pattern rushed around me before I could even take in the details. Holding my breath, I blinked and everything went back to normal. I stood there for a good ten minutes like that, frozen, unbreathing and feeling just fine. Slowly, I turned in a circle and my heart sank as I took in the small, windowless, and door-less space.

The last thing I could remember…

The Knight standing in the middle of the battlefield. A distant roar that became a thundering echo.

I winced as I let out a painful cry and held my head. I had been there, in that field in that moment. But just why and how, I could not remember, let alone my own name. As if I had not yet existed until that very moment.

But that can't be right.

"Good morning. You have been asleep for quite some time. How do you feel?" A male voice spoke up from everywhere but nowhere.

"Fine." I responded, hands falling to my sides.

"I'm sure you have some questions. Would you like to speak with me?" The voice asked again.

"Yes." I ran my hand along the wall, where my skin cells touched the cool metal surface felt electrified. Visually, a map blossomed before me of the wires and pipes on the other side.

I found where the door and the window were hidden and as I thought it, the door opened and the window became visible.

"Very good. You are picking up on your new abilities quickly." An old man stepped inside. He wore a lab coat with a non threatening sweater and khakis, complete with a neatly trimmed beard. Even though he looked harmless he still made me feel uneasy.

"Do you remember anything prior to now?" He asked as he folded his hands behind his back.

"Not really. Do you know who I am? What happened to me?" I asked back as I began to fidget with the thin paper gown I was in.

"We found you as you were dying up above all alone in the Wasteland. We saved you and I made you better. Unfortunately, we did not know your name." He explained in a calm, steady voice. I tried not to narrow my eyes as I could tell that he was lying. There was a slight uptick in his heartbeat that was so minute I almost did not catch it. Maybe he did know my name but did not want me to know.

Maybe.

"I wasn't always like this." I stated. He just nodded. "Thank you. For saving me." I added after a short pause. He gave me a weird, crinkly smile in return.

"You will be able to pay us back in time. First you need to adjust. Inherently you are still human, but you are a better human. Stronger, smarter, invulnerable to the elements, radiation, and the needs of regular humans. The perfect balance of organic and machine. I hope you aren't offended but this has been a little pet project of mine for a while." His eyes began to shine with a strange eagerness behind his black pupils.

"You keep talking about 'us' and 'we'. Who even are you and where am I?" I asked and winced through the pain in my head.

"You are in the Institute and I am Father."

* * *

 _Several Weeks Ago_

Up here the wind was roaring in my ears and stripped at my bare face. Looking down upon the Commonwealth atop the hull of this rusted airship would make anyone's head swell. It was a clear view of the irradiated city and its crumbling facade. Not unlike the view back home. Right now I could make out at least four raider settlements, no wait, five. Five more infestations to clear.

"Agent Furie, where is your location." A familiar gruff male voice spoke through the radio in my ear and attached to the stealth suit. Not a question, but a statement, a demand.

"On top of the ship." I replied blankly. There was a pause, static in my ear.

"That makes sense. Report to the bridge immediately." Maxson barked and then cut the line. Of course, should have figured that was a weird question. I was pretty sure that Maxson went and installed a tracking device into the suit a while ago.

A squire scrubbing the catwalk nearly fell back when I jumped down from the hatch leading to the top of the ship. I chuckled to myself as I walked away, the heels of my boots barely making a thud against the metal.

Elder Maxson had his back to me when I arrived, looking out at the same view.

"The view is better on top of the ship." I spoke up and he barely reacted. Damn, he never even flinched whenever I snuck up on him.

"I'll have to consider that. There is an assignment for you." He turns to face me with his hands clenched steadfast and firm behind his back. Always a magnet of power and authority, with his brow furrowed in anger or thought. I couldn't really tell sometimes.

"Oh, good. I was starting to get bored being in this blimp all day." I tried to sound playful but nothing could ever change the ice in his features.

"You have an assignment. There have been several reports coming in from those in field about an underground organization that has been smuggling Synths out of the commonwealth. They're known as the Railroad and we have reason to believe that they have been engaging in espionage against us as well. Your job will be uprooting their system of safe houses and members by locating and infiltrating their headquarters. We can't have them moving those abominations up and down the Commonwealth and beyond." Maxson explained as he paced around the office.

"Some good old undercover work. Understood." I nodded.

"Read over this report and destroy it. I must warn you to be extremely careful, once you are out on the field, you will be on your own completely. You and I are the only ones who know of this operation." He fixed me with the full force of his stare and for a split second, I could see the care and concern soften his features.

"Careful is my middle name." I winked as I grabbed the thin brown envelope from his hands. The corners of his mouth twitched as he tried not to smile.

"Then good luck."

* * *

a/n: let me know what you think if you're so inclined. sole survivor will eventually appear


	2. 2

Foot fell over my foot as I crept forward. I paused as the silence reverberated in my ears. A faint, growing thud-

He came up on me from the right. The air vibrated as the Courser tried to slam his elbow against me. I leaned back as I maneuvered out of his reach. This had to be the hundredth time we had repeated this conflict, but this time like the last few, I was quick enough to grab him.

There was a loud snap as I broke his arm back and in half. Normally cool, composed, and icy, the Courser let out a shriek. I went in for the kill blow, fingers wrapped around the throat when the lights turned on in unison and a piercing noise made my muscles go numb.

"That is enough. Fall back, 09." Father spoke into the intercom. I already had taken several steps away as two Coursers marched in to take the other away. They hardly glanced my way as they helped their injured comrade. They hardly looked at me at all.

Up above on the platform, Father and the rest of the scientists and technicians were gathered in a circle as they talked. As usual, Father looked stoic as his counterparts were arguing animatedly amongst themselves. They wanted privacy but I could understand everything they were saying.

 _"She's still too emotional, we all saw how eagerly she went in for the kill."_

 _"That is what we want, an effective, efficient, Courser that can not be noticed on the surface. She has begun to outpace the Synth Coursers faster than we had predicted-"_

 _"There was no emotion, no hesitation, she was simply performing her job. The program is running effectively-"_

 _"We must run further diagnostics to determine her readiness for a field operation. There are too many risk factors at play at the moment-"_

Father turned his head, noticed I was watching, and held up his hand. Immediately, they all went silent and turned to look at me in unison.

The whole room, their eyes on me.

* * *

Everything was white here. Shades of it. The occasional pop of color was ugly and garish, too bright in contrast to the muted tones.

I was laying on my back against the cold steel. The cold, filtered air rose goosebumps on my bare flesh that was being poked and prodded by numerous machines I could not identify. I was staring up at the ceiling, shifting through different modes of vision. Fields of heat through infrared to a slightly scattered, web vision of all the different wires running through the walls.

Focus, and I could hear the heartbeat of the people in the room above, three of them, relaxed.

"The other Coursers do not like me." I said as Father carefully recorded the numbers on the screen into his notes. What he was looking at, I had no idea. It tired me slightly as my head began to whirl, had already started to decipher it without me thinking too hard about it.

"The Coursers can not feel anything like you are describing. I will adjust the receptors, those types of observations are left over chemicals still acting by nature. Those feelings will go away." He said over his shoulder, still engrossed in his work. He spoke as if I should be thankful to be rid of the insecure thoughts that plagued me.

"Was I very emotional before?" I asked after a brief pause of silence. Father looked up at me now, his brow furrowed together in deep thought. His heart rate remained steady, then he furiously scribbled in his notes.

"I don't know, it does not matter. Only concern yourself with what is happening now." He said and began to enter long lines of code into the computer station next to us. The machines whirled into action, and I felt a painful prick at the base of my neck. Pupils dilated then retracted as I felt a numb, paralyzing sensation overcome me. Father just stared down at me with an unsettling smile on his face, hands folded behind his back.

This was one of the few times I could get to be unthinking, undoing, the closest to unconscious I could get. I was beginning to learn that some things were better kept to myself.


	3. 3

Everything was too dead here.

Shriveled up, sickly, covered in dust. Everything had been white, manufactured and artificial at the Institute. But up here what was natural would get you killed.

X6-88 stood next to me, both of us standing at an angle so that we could look out of the window but remain relatively unseen below. Not that anyone or anything down there would bother to look. The Raiders were too busy dealing with the Deathclaw that was ravaging the camp.

"It's picked up on the scent of its child, it should wrap things up quickly from here." X6-88 said as the Mother Deathclaw let out a piercing shriek.

"There is a raider on the inside with a rocket launcher. They only have two rockets, it looks like they are going to try and shoot at the Mother when it goes inside." I responded as I just watched in bright swatches of heat. I was not a fan of the normal yellow and brown undertone of the crumbling wasteland.

"That must be the Chief. Their leaders tend not to be the smartest but the brutish." X6-88 quipped as an explosion of shrapnel rocked the nearby building. There was a slight rumble as that section collapsed upon the second fiery rocket. The Deathclaw gave more of an annoyed howl as it dug itself out of the rubble merely seconds after the dust began to swirl, resilient to most of the damage save a few cuts and bruises.

Its baby was running around rapidly in the pen the Raiders had constructed surprisingly well. There was a coil around its neck with a broken chain, the baby shook around violently to get rid of it. It let out a cry as the Mother approached and began to pull at the debris.

The Deathclaws cooed at each other upon their reunion. In a matter of seven minutes, a lone Mother Deathclaw had managed to completely rip apart a hovel of nearly fifteen raiders. I thought they were going to leave then, run back to their nest in the more barren parts of the wastes, but instead, the Mother drug the nearest body towards them and they set about consuming.

"What is going on in there?" X6-88 asked as he must have seen the look on my face.

"They're eating the bodies." I said in a daze.

"Oh, that's expected. They prefer brahmin. We'll be waiting for a bit longer, the Synth has not fled yet. I hope the remain still and the Deathclaw does not pick up on its-"

The Synth must have heard it go so suddenly quiet, because they crawled out from its hiding spot and made a loud run for it, through a puddle and everything. I just gave X6 a side smirk as he let out a quick, irritated exhale of air.

* * *

 _It is interesting, what fear has made me do._

* * *

Silence had fallen over the squadron. Breaking apart to creep through the shadowy ruins, radio traffic was dead, just static in the ears.

I secured the route ahead of me, kept to the corners and rifle at the ready. Mentally, I could picture the schematics I had been staring at for the weeks leading up to this. The armory was on this floor, with the t-shaped hallway.

 _"Stairwells secure."_

I glanced at the Knight who was following up on the rear and nodded.

 _"Resource located."_

We fell on either side of the door. A shadow momentarily fell across the glass.

In that moment, there was not a single sound, only silence. I crouched to my knees as I reached inside my side pack. The Knight slowly backed up from the wall, faced the door, kicked it open. I threw the smoke grenades, lobbed them one after the other, inside as hard and fast as I could.

The Knight in full armor with his men advanced into the room in one precise motion. The pop, pop, pop of their fire lasted in a constant stream. The commands over the radio were quick, orderly to prevent the creeping panic.

My breath in and out through the respirator was quiet as I darted in through the rear. Steam from the fizzling smoke smoldered on my goggles as I dove for cover from the messy fire. Bullets flew past me, exploded against the concrete.

These details, they come and go with the memory. Some things more vivid than others.

At the time, I could hardly move, couldn't even breathe. Even as I returned fire I felt the overwhelming sensation grip me, flush my skin paper white. But even then, I had been so careless. Emboldened in the face of death.

The Knight had been the boldest of them all. How he commanded the unit. Stood there in the aftermath, heroic and resilient.

 _The steel had been cold and heavy on my shoulders._

I had been afraid then of dying. That is what struck me the most. It could not leave me.

Looking back, there was no need for such a fear. A conclusion I had already come to once before.

 _The Knight removed their helmet and it fell to the ground._

But what did I have to fear now that I was untouchable?


	4. 4

_There should have been a coffin to bury. And in that coffin of lead, a woman with hay colored hair. Wrapped in the cloth with the same insignia that had been adorned upon my parents._

 _There had been coffins for them. There had been bodies to bury._

 _But for her, for the Sentinel, there had been nothing._

 _So what could I look at as they fired the salute? Who would they give the folded flag to?_

 _I wanted to ask. The young man next to me fixed me with his stare. Eyes black, shadows cast by his brow, falling below and staining his lids._

 _We both knew what happened there. I could have said something, but did not. Instead I took a shaky breath to prevent from sobbing. He squeezed me on the shoulder for support, but it was painful. Uncomfortable._

* * *

The latch was yanked roughly and a square shaped beam of light illuminated the bottom of the trap door. This was the part I had been most afraid of, seeing how I didn't have anything to defend myself save for the shabby 10mm at my hip with limited ammo. The only downside to staying under cover was actually traveling like a runaway. It would be suspicious if I was strapped to the teeth with the latest Brotherhood hardware.

I just hoped it was who I wanted it to be opening the door. It was shoved open and a head poked over.

"Hey! Easy!" The guy shouted at me and held the lantern in his hand over the edge so that it was visible. My hand had gone to the hilt at my side without me thinking about it. "Here, catch!" He threw down a thick piece of rope that I used to climb over the crumbling iron ladder. The Railroad agent held their hand out for me to take and helped me over the edge of the pit and to my feet.

"Sometimes I'm glad they built so many bomb shelters!" The agent chuckled to fill the silence that followed as I just stared around, trying to get a bearings on where I was. I had been shoved into the back of an over packed caravan to get there and put into that hole with a bag over my head. "We've got a lot of walking to do, best we stick to a tight schedule to follow the sun. Got a few more pickups along the way. What is your name by the way?" The Agent chatted behind a lit cigarette. He tossed a few bags at me, among them a sickly pack of dried meat to eat.

"Dawn." I said and held my hand out for him to take. The Agent smiled pleasantly and returned my handshake.

"Deacon. You a good shot?" He nodded to the 10mm.

"I'm decent. It's gotten me this far." I shrugged.

"Huh, well, here's hoping we won't need it! But I doubt it." He said after a long drag from his cigarette. Even though the morning sunlight was barely illuminating the dilapidated building he still wore thick sunglasses so it was hard to read his full expression.

"I'm determined to see this through." I said after what felt like too long, an awkward pause.

"That's the spirit! Alright, say goodbye to your dank pit, we need to get moving." Deacon said and turned on his heel sharply. I shouldered the bags and took a few quick steps to keep up. I wondered how they must have determined that I was a legitimate runaway to them. Despite all the information the Brotherhood had gathered on the Synths, to be honest and to admit would be close to blasphemy to the Elder, I was still struggling with the distinction. All it took for me was an institute uniform, a frazzled look, and a persuasive conversation with a sympathetic old man at an out post to seemingly convince the Railroad.

Seemingly.

That day we walked across the Wasteland along the cracked road. It was best to remain quiet, as there were eyes and ears everywhere. Unseen to us, but there were creatures not far off. At least the sky was a bit brighter blue here, truer to a deep hue here than the faded yellow and grey of home. But only a glimpse, and a dense fog glowing green rolls in.

I noticed how Deacon would watch me.

"Huh, you're more than a decent shot." He whistled between his teeth as the creeping blood fly exploded into chunks in the air. It had been coming at us from over the hill, the vibration from its wings nearly had me jump out of my skin. Somethings still disgusted me.

"I hate bugs." I huffed and glared at the pieces as we made our way around them.

"I could hardly even see it." He said, a cloud rolling over his head and reflecting on his mirror shades. I just gave him a look before we continued. Small talk was best kept to a minimum. Less of a chance for me to mix things up, reveal too much.

If anything, I paid close attention to what he would ask, what he would say.

It's easy for a liar to spot a liar.


End file.
